Relationships
by abitterkitten
Summary: Relationships aren't the same as they were in the old world, but Beth and Daryl will take what they can get. A series of interrelated Bethyl moments.
1. holding hands

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that has to do with The Walking Dead comic book or show. I only borrow their characters and hope I can do them justice!**

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Relationships don't work the same way they used to in the old world. Beth gets that now. She thinks Daryl gets that now too. Maybe he got that long before her. Although, she doesn't have any idea how relationships worked for him in the past. She's never asked him. He may have been with many women, he may have only been with a few, but that doesn't matter anymore. She understands that now as a feeling of contentment sinks into her bones.

All that matters right now is the warm weight of his hand in hers. His fingers interlaced with hers. The rough callus on his thumb scratching softly against her skin as he strokes the back of her hand. The way he glances over at her every so often as though he's checking on her, as though something could have happened to her in the few minutes since his eyes last left her. Even though they've been holding hands the entire time.

She guesses that this is what would be considered a date now. There are no movie nights, dinners at fancy restaurants, or picnics by the local swimming hole. Just hunting together in the woods, maybe going on an easy run alone, or sitting shotgun while he drove a hot-wired car, slowly making their way to DC. Today, Daryl had felt that the group was running low on food, so he wanted to go hunting. He didn't ask her to come, he only looked at her over Rick's shoulder as they discussed their plans for the day. Meeting her eyes as she finished putting Judith down for a nap in her make-shift crib, silently checking if she could slip away for a few hours.

She gravitated towards him as he finished talking to Rick, he nodded his head towards the woods, muttered a low "Come on" to her, and then she and Daryl headed towards the forest together. Like it was the most natural thing in the world. As they made their way across the clearing and towards the woods, he reached over to her and flicked the end of the braid she kept in her ponytail, sending it swinging. "Think you can help me? Now that you're a master tracker and all that?" She could hear the trademark Daryl smirk in his voice.

She just smiled at him, keeping her tone light, "Well, I learned from the best."

As soon as they broke through the treeline and were engulfed in the woods, she reached over and grabbed his hand, lacing his fingers with hers. Her hand small and slight, resting comfortably in his much larger one. Just like that day at the graveyard, before everything had happened.

It doesn't matter how she made her way back to them, only that she did. Maybe one day when she felt like talking about it, it would matter, but right now it didn't. He didn't push her to talk about it like Maggie did, didn't look at her like she was wounded like Carol did. All that matters is that Daryl had held her hand back and hadn't let go as they tracked through the woods.

Neither one of them said anything about it. They just walked stealthily along as though this was a normal occurrence. As though they did this every day. She figured that they didn't need to talk about it. Maybe things would never progress further than they had, maybe one day he would give her a ring. She couldn't bring herself to care. Not right now, not in this moment.

What good would a talk about feelings and relationships do for them now? They didn't need it. It would make him feel uncomfortable and she would feel like she was back in high school. There was no need for labels like boyfriend and girlfriend anymore. They were just together. A team. Falling back into the old dynamic they had built after they had burned down that house. They didn't need many words between them and she was ok with that. As long as they could stay like this, comfortable and content, she would be happy.

She felt his eyes shift back over to her and she met his eyes this time, flashing him a smile. He flushed a bit, like he wasn't expecting to be caught looking, and his eyes dropped back to the ground to follow the trail they had found. He'd been sneaking glances at her constantly over the past few days since she had gotten back. He barely let her out of his sight. She made sure she knew where he was at all times. They were like magnets, constantly ending up near each other no matter who was around or what they were doing, but had yet to have any sort of alone time. Now that they were here, alone in the woods, she had never felt safer or stronger or been surer of anything in her life.

She stopped walking and tugged on his hand. Daryl continued for a few more steps and then stopped and turned towards her as he felt her pulling him back.

"Daryl." Her voice was soft. Sounding almost like a question. She took a few steps towards him to shrink the gap between them, never letting go of his hand. She raised her other hand and placed it over his heart. Relishing in the feeling of his heartbeat, strong and steady against her palm. Reminding her that he was here with her, they were together, this was real, _this_ was what mattered in this world now. No deep relationship talks, no "where is this heading?" Just the comfort of having someone else's heart beat for you.

"Hmm?" He raised his eyebrows, gently asking for some explanation. Not pushing for information, not demanding answers, just asking for whatever she could give him.

She looked into his eyes. Searching for any reluctance or rejection. But there was none, she didn't think there would be. Daryl might have realized this before they were separated. That this all felt right, as natural as breathing. She stepped even closer to him, until the tips of her cowboy boots hit the tips of his work boots, closing the gap between them completely.

She reached up on her tip toes, closing her eyes. She felt the air come alive around them and she pressed her lips against his. It was a soft kiss, innocent. She wasn't asking for anything more than this. She just wanted this moment. These couple seconds that she would take from him and store in the back of her mind. Precious and untouched. Unable to be spoiled by the world around them.

He hesitated for a second, then let go of her hand and gently cradled her face in his hands as they both melted into the kiss. It felt perfect. She felt an easy warmth settle over her heart and spread over her chest. The same warmth that she had felt over a candlelight dinner of peanut butter, jelly, and pigs feet.

The kiss didn't last long, only a few seconds. And as she broke away from him she smiled. He quirked one corner of his lips up in response.

She looked back into his eyes hoping he could tell how happy he made her and whispered the only thing that really mattered now. "I'm glad I found you."

"Me too, Greene," he whispered back.

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**A/N: Alright, after such an awesome response to my last story from all you amazing Bethylers, I really wanted to try my hand at writing again! I think I'm going to try continue to write little moments between Beth and Daryl. It won't be a story per se (I am no where close to confident enough in my writing abilities to tackle that beast), but it will all take place in the same universe. Let me know what you think about this little moment and if you think I should continue. I really hope that you enjoyed this!**

**And a special shout-out to TakeHomeJulie and Heart Iconography, two really sweet and talented ladies who write awesome Bethyl stories!**

**If you have an comments/ideas and want to hit me up on tumblr, I'm thisismymorecolorfulmoniker!**


	2. showers

**A/N: **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and liked! It motivates me to keep writing these little one-shots for you!

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When they were alone and relatively safe, Daryl would let Beth get away with a lot. Stupid, silly domestic things that he never thought that he would participate in. But, there was something about her, about how comfortable they were with each other, that lured him into letting her get away with it. That's how he found himself with a head full of shampoo bubbles and Beth attempting to shape his hair into a mohawk, smiling and laughing. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they were both naked, in water up to her shoulders, him bending his knees so that they were at the same level. Maybe it had something to do with the way she would smile and laugh, like she was assuring him it wasn't a crime to be happy. Whatever it was, he never thought it would be like this. As she pulled his hair through her hands, starting from the top of his head and pulling up, she leaned in and kissed him. Just a quick peck on the lips, teasing and fun. "You ever tell anyone about this, Greene, I'll cut that braid you like so much right out of your hair."

She smiled and rolled her eyes, "You would never."

He narrowed his eyes, trying to look menacing. "Try me, girl. I ain't lying."

Daryl had decided to go on a run into a very small town close to where they had set up camp on their way to DC. The group had decided to stay off main roads, away from places that would have been heavily populated before the world ended, in order to avoid walkers and other humans. They were doing alright on supplies, but he didn't feel like sitting around camp, figuring out their next move anymore. He didn't trust this "mission" that mustache and mullet kept going on about. He knew Rick didn't exactly either. He was starting to feel antsy, so he decided to go on a quick run, scavenge whatever he could find, whatever could be useful to them in the long run. He told Rick he was leaving for a bit, walked over to Beth who was checking the walker traps on the perimeter, grabbed her hand quickly to get her attention and then dropped it, and nodded over to the car he had found a few days ago. "We're going on a run."

She just smiled at his blunt proposition. "Man, Daryl, you really know how to make a girl feel wanted."

He could feel a smile coming on. She always seemed to do that. Constantly giving him reasons to smile. Little things, like how she hummed to herself while cooking, or the way her face lit up when she was playing with Judith. He didn't know if he would ever get used to it. They had been together for a little while now, things had just felt natural between them. Good. They ate together, went hunting together when they could, slept together, in both senses of the word. Minus a few bumps in the road, and if he was being honest his insecurities and fears caused pretty much every one of them, everything had just come easily to them. But, he would never get used to wanting to smile so much.

They didn't get much time, just the two of them. But when they did, he savored every second. He liked that they didn't always have to talk. Silences between them weren't awkward. They were there, stretching between them, but they never made him feel uncomfortable and she never made him feel bad for not talking much. He wasn't much of a conversationalist. He liked that he could look at her a certain way and she would know what he was thinking, like she was reading his mind. He didn't know if he would get used to that either.

They had finished clearing one house, finishing in the bathroom. Rifling through all the cabinets and the shelves. Shoving bandages, ibuprofen, band aids, whatever could be useful in their bags. When he figured they had gotten everything, he turned to her. "You good?"

"I'm good." She nodded once, but didn't make to leave. Instead she just glanced over at the shower. It was one of those ones with the glass door, the ones you had to pull open and then close it behind you. He always thought those were annoying. What was so wrong with a shower curtain?

She let out a little sigh and leaned her head slightly to one side, she looked like she was seriously contemplating something. It was a shower, he didn't get it. Not much to contemplate. She surprised him when she spoke again, soft and calm. "You know what I never got to do?"

"Lotta stuff?" He joked with her. Another thing he didn't know if he would get used to.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Ha ha. Well yeah. But more specifically, I never got to take a shower with someone else." She looked down, seemingly inspecting the floor of the shower that she could see through the crack of the open door, avoiding his eyes. "Like, you always see that in the movies or on TV, I always figured I'd do it when I went to college or something like that."

He just looked at her the way that he did when she surprised him, coming out with one of her Beth thoughts, the type no one else really thought of anymore. Glancing at her from underneath his long hair, not taking his eyes off her.

She gave him a little half smile. One side of her mouth turning up. She shook her head like she was trying to get rid of the thought. "It's stupid."

"'S not stupid." He paused, then made up his mind. "We should do it." It wasn't stupid. This girl deserved to have some normalcy, or as close to normalcy as they could get now, in her life. He could give this to her. He wanted to.

She let out a little half-hearted laugh and gestured to the shower, "What? Where? Unless you know how to make this shower run again."

"Not here, there's a creek a little bit away from here. Saw it on the map. Haven't seen many walkers around here. Maybe we could get away with it."

And before he changed his mind and let the overprotective part of him take over and proclaim that this was a bad idea, he slid his crossbow over his shoulder, gathered the shampoo, conditioner, and soap from the shower and shoved it into his bag and left the bathroom.

When he made it into the hall, he realized she hadn't followed him. He turned around and peeked his head back into the bathroom. She was just standing there, with that look on her face that she gets when she finds proof of that good in the world that she still believes in, with that brilliant smile on her face that made his stomach flip. He teasingly shook his head at her, "You coming? Or you just gonna stand there the rest of the day?"

She laughed, smiling even bigger if that was possible. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm coming. Let's go." She made her way out of the bathroom, meeting him in the hall. "You really need to wash off all that grime anyway." She scrunched up her nose, "You're getting kinda gross."

He scoffed, feigning hurt. "Yeah, you ain't looking so good yourself, Greene." That was a lie. She always looked good. He had no idea how she could look so beautiful every day. She could be covered in walker guts, black thick blood on her shirt, dirt smeared on her face, and she would still have that glow around her that she always seemed to have.

They made their way back to the car and he drove in the direction he thought the creek was in. After a little exploring and scouting of the area, he parked off the side of the road and they got out. They hadn't seen any walkers during their trip. This area seemed pretty deserted. No one wanted to live this far out before the world went to hell. He scanned the woods, checking for any signs of danger, keeping his crossbow in front of him, as they walked out towards the creek and followed it a bit until it was deep enough.

They both stood there on the bank. The creek was clear and gentle, it looked perfect for this. He placed the shampoo and soap that he had grabbed from the shower on the bank. She looked at him expectantly. "Do you really think this is ok?"

He shrugged. "Maybe not, but we're doing it."

She wouldn't stop looking at him. "What if something happens and we have to get away fast?"

He looked at her like the answer to her question was glaringly obvious. "Whaddya think? We get out, grab our clothes and run to the car."

"Naked?"

He smirked at her, "Yeah, naked."

She laughed quietly then smiled her big smile again, biting her bottom lip in between her teeth. She quirked her eyebrow, like she made up her mind. "Ok, we're doing this." And without any more warning, she pulled her shirt off, folding it haphazardly and then placing it on the bank near the water, close enough to grab quickly if they had to. Her pants quickly followed. After they both got rid of their clothes, they walked in slowly, trying not to splash too much or make too much noise.

Yeah, this might have been a little bit stupid. He would probably be mad at himself later that he had been so careless with her, but for right now, he couldn't stop being overwhelmed by that feeling he got whenever he wanted to smile. Beth was smiling from ear to ear, whispering about how good the soap smelled and how this was way better than they made it look in the movies. She looked up at him, "Probably cause we have more room. You'd take up way more shower than I would."

He made sure he kept checking the banks, looking for any sign of movement in the forest, but there was nothing. Just him and Beth and her big smile lighting up his world. She insisted on shampooing his hair, and he dunked her under after she looked like she was going to laugh at his new hairstyle. When they were all done, their fingers turning into prunes, she stopped him from getting out and dragged him back to the deeper water where she stood.

Pulling him towards her, she wrapped her arms around his neck, winding her hands up through his now clean hair, and pressed her body into his. Resting her forearms on his shoulders, she shifted all her weight to rest on him as she slid her legs up to his hips, reveling in the way her smooth legs glided along the outsides of his. He grabbed her ass and she wrapped her legs around his hips and bent down to kiss him, long and deep. Pouring everything she felt about him into it. And when she pulled away she tipped his chin up with her small hand so that he was looking into her eyes. She brushed away the pieces of his hair that were stuck to his forehead, dripping water down his face. "Thank you." And she gave him another quick kiss. He could feel her smiling as she pressed her lips into his. "Thank you," she murmured again against his lips.

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**A/N: **A little fluffy chapter. I hope you like it! If you have time/motivation/the desire to, please leave me a review and let me know what you think! It really makes my day when you guys leave me comments.


	3. Looks

**A/N:** Another little Bethyl one-shot. I imagine this would take place after they've been together for a little while. The rating went up for this. A little smutty towards the end. So press that back button if you're not into that. Hope you enjoy! :)

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Beth had heard that she was pretty before. Beautiful, even. She remembers her father giving her arm a loving squeeze and calling her his beautiful Bethy after she had sang a hymn for the family four Christmases ago. She remembers her girlfriends from high school, as they hung out in front of the bathroom mirror during lunch break putting on their lip gloss, telling her she was lucky that the boys thought she was pretty. She remembers Zach, telling her he never thought he'd see something as pretty as her again in a world like theirs. It used to be something that girls like her strived for. That they wanted to hear about themselves.

Daryl had even called her pretty long before they were together, albeit a bit condescendingly. After one of his hunting lessons, Daryl was showing her how to skin and gut a kill. When she had asked him if she could try, that she learned better by just doing something, he paused and then handed over the kill, sarcastically saying, "Who knew a pretty thing like you wouldn't mind getting her hands dirty?" She remembered feeling shocked that he would ever think of her as pretty. He seemed as shocked as she was that he had let the word slip through his lips. And then he schooled his features and they brushed it off. She didn't hear it from him again for a while. She didn't mind. It wasn't important in the world that they lived in now.

But she knew he thought it. The way he would look at her when he didn't think she knew, even when she was doing something as unattractive as changing Judith's diaper. The way he would look at her as she stopped to admire a monarch that had landed on the daisies that grew right on the outskirts of their camp. She felt it in the weight of his gaze, the way he seemed to sometimes get lost in her, making eye contact a much more intimate affair than she ever thought it could be.

She knew that he loved her. He showed her when he would bring her something back from a run. Last time it had been a small ceramic owl figurine that was now wrapped up in one of her extra shirts and placed carefully in the front pocket of her backpack. Something trivial and useless in their world now, but something that reminded him of her, that he thought that she would like. Once they had a safe place to live again, she would line all the knick-knacks up in a line in her room across from her bed and they would look at her and remind her that he loved her. And he told her did sometimes. Especially after a hard day. He would wrap her up in his arms, she would mold herself up against his chest, he would bury his head in her hair. She would pull back a little and turn her head to look at him, meet his eyes, and tell him, "I love you." And he would pull her back into him, bury his head back in her hair and murmur, "Me too."

He seemed insecure that he couldn't always voice how he felt about her. Being around Maggie and Glenn constantly probably had something to do with it. They were both so openly affectionate. Kissing each other in front of everyone else, wrapping around each other before one of them would go on a run. If Daryl and Beth were alone, they would share a more romantic parting moment, but in front of everyone, he would reach over to her and give her hand a squeeze or reach his hand up and place it on her cheek. She would comfort him when they were alone, insist that she didn't need huge public gestures to show that he cared. That she knew. But he always insisted on making it up to her, showing her in the most _amazing_ ways when they were alone that he loved her. He practically worshipped her. Some days he couldn't keep his hands off of her and he made sure that he made her feel good in the most carnal ways possible.

The first few times they had sex were a little rocky. She never had to overthink anything or feel uncomfortable, but she had to sometimes convince Daryl to do the same. It took some assuring from her the first time that she wanted to. That she knew what she was asking for. He pulled away like she figured he would, withdrawing into himself for a few days. She didn't push it, just acted the same way she always did around him, reassuring him with every kiss that he was all that she wanted. He came around eventually. She could tell she had made him see sense when the group had found a new house to stay in and after clearing the house, he threw his duffel bag of stuff onto a bed and turned to her. Asking her, "You want to stay in here tonight?"

Once they got over the initial awkwardness and his insecurities, once she convinced him she was not going to break and that she wanted this, he poured all of his emotions into it. He took his time kissing a path from her neck, between her breasts, and down her stomach. Every kiss from him was like a love letter. He took his time as he took off her clothes, making sure that he paid attention to each part of her body as it was exposed to him. She felt love in every caress and touch. Even when they were consumed with lust and heat and just wanted to fuck, he made sure that she came, that she felt good, that she was happy. The days that they couldn't make it to a bed and only made it to a desk, or a table, or a counter, his hand would slip between their bodies as he was thrusting into her, rubbing her clit, and making her come before he would let go. And when they had both come down off their post-sex high, the way he would always ask her after, "You ok?" Like he was asking for her approval. Like all he cared about was what she was feeling. And she would always smile at him and say something along the lines of, "Better than." Yeah, she knew that he loved her.

And she knew that he thought she was beautiful, but he never made her feel as beautiful as he did when she was on top of Daryl. Her pale legs straddling his hips, her palms pressing on his chest for support, her fingernails digging into his skin from pleasure, her muscles tight, and her hair down and cascading down her back, a few locks slipping over her shoulders as she moved. She would never get over the way Daryl would look up at her. Like he was in awe of her, like she was the most precious thing he'd ever seen. He would grab her hips and help her rock against him and they would both throw their heads back and he would let out a deep and raspy, "Jesus, Beth." He wasn't much for declarations of love or feelings, for romantic words whispered over pillows, but he was able to give her everything she needed through his touch, through his looks, through whatever he could give her.

And she never felt as loved as she did when afterwards, Daryl took his hands off of her hips and combed his hands through her hair, holding back the pieces that had fallen over her shoulders and blocked his view of her face. He looked at her wonderingly, and quietly, more so asking himself than her, murmured, "How in the hell did I get so lucky?"

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**A/N: **A HUGE thank you to all the people who review, favorite, or follow this series. It honestly puts a smile on my face and makes my day when I see that. So thank you so much everyone. I'm so happy you enjoy the story. I was really nervous about this chapter. I've been holding on to it for about a week now, trying to pluck up the courage to publish it! I have a few more moments planned out, but if anyone has any ideas or just wants to chat about Bethyl, feel free to PM me!


	4. scars

**A/N**: Because I don't see Daryl and Beth getting intimate before his scars on his back are addressed. Here is the obligatory Beth finds out about his scars scene. So this would take place kinda early on in their relationship.

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Beth hadn't talked to Daryl all day. Both of them had been up since early in the morning, but she had been taking care of Judith and organizing supplies, and he had been pouring over maps with Rick and Abraham. She finally had some time to herself and she had seen him walk back into the farmhouse they were staying in, so she followed him in, turning the corner and walking into the living room they had been sleeping in.

When she found Daryl, he was standing with his bare back towards her, reaching for a new shirt to wear. She hadn't seen him shirtless before, things hadn't progressed physically to that point between them yet, and the scars on his back took her by surprise. Things started adding up in her head. She had known Daryl for years now, how had she not realized this before? She knew he had a rough childhood, but seeing the deep purple reminders of it was something else entirely and she unconsciously let out a gasp. He immediately spun around. Scrambling to cover himself with the new flannel shirt he had grabbed.

She took a few steps towards him, she could feel her eyebrows scrunch together in concern, "Daryl…"

"I don't need your pity, girl," He cut her off. His voice was flat and cold. Menacing. It would make someone else back off, but not her. She'd stood up to him before and come out alive. She wasn't scared of him.

"Well you obviously don't know me as well as you think you do if you think I pity you." She took a step farther into the room. Closer to him. And he took a step back, farther away. Like a cornered animal.

"Yeah, that look on your face says different." She could hear his anger rising. She could practically see him throwing his walls back up around him. He was talking to her like he didn't give a shit about her, like he was writing her off as someone who was going to run away, and that pissed her off.

Her heart started beating faster. She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks. He could rile her up like no one else. She'd never been a yeller, but sometimes the way he acted made her want to start. She reminded herself to stay calm. Taking a deep breath, she tried to keep her voice as steady as possible. "I'm hurting for you. It's different." Her voice was thick with emotion. She could feel it trying to choke her. God, she hated how deeply she felt sometimes.

His face was still stoic, his eyes narrowed. She couldn't read him. She didn't know if he thought that was any better than pity. This was foreign territory to her, but he hadn't walked away yet, so she pressed her luck. "I hate that you had to go through something like that."

"Life ain't no fairy tale for all of us. Shit happens"

"Daryl, shit like that doesn't just happen." She tried to close the gap between them, but he just side-stepped her. She could tell he was trying to make it out of the living room.

"Whatever." He tried to walk away.

She grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards her. "No. Daryl Dixon, you do not get to walk away from me this time. You are going to sit here and hear me out. And then you can walk away." She got that determined look in her eyes, she felt that strength she first felt when they were yelling at that moonshine still. She always knew she could be strong when she needed to be, but something about being around Daryl seemed to make that strength come out much more often. "I care about you, a lot. And it scares me sometimes, and I think it scares you too."

"You don't…" He tried to interrupt her. His eyes hardened, steeling himself for an argument, but she put her hand up to stop him, and surprisingly he did, looking shocked. Letting her speak again.

"No. I'm not done yet. I know. I know, You ain't scared of anything. You can say that to everyone else, not to me." She was talking fast, like all of these words just needed to get out of her. "I don't like seeing those scars on your back because I care about you, and thinking about you being in pain hurts me so much it makes me feel like I'm in pain."

She took a deep breath, trying to slow herself down. She met his eyes, trying to convey to him how sincere she was being. "But if you think that this makes me see you differently, or makes me think you're too messed up for me or whatever, you're wrong. It doesn't change a damn thing." She stepped back and let go of his arm. "Ok, I'm done now. Go ahead and walk away if you want to."

And yeah, she knew he was more comfortable with her than he was with anyone else, but he wasn't going to turn into a new man overnight and she didn't want him to. So he picked up his crossbow and he moved around her, walking out the front door and towards the woods, refusing to turn around and look at her. Pretending she wasn't even there. Leaving her alone with the ugly yellow floral wall paper and green plaid couch. She didn't know what she was feeling. No one confused her as much as Daryl Dixon. She felt like she should be mad, but she wasn't. If there was one thing she was absolutely sure of about herself it was that she wasn't a fool. She was smart and she could read people. She knew that Daryl came along with baggage. If she wanted to be with him, she was going to have to be ok with it.

Later when she was taking Judith back from Rick after some much needed father-daughter time, she asked Rick if he knew where Daryl had went. He looked at her with this deep understanding and just assured her he'd went hunting and would be back soon. It took a few hours for Daryl to come back, but she knew he would. When he got back to camp, he seemed to be using every excuse to avoid her, talking to Rick, talking to Carol, fiddling with his crossbow, sharpening his knives. She let him be. She had made all her moves, it was his turn.

She wondered if he would come sleep by her tonight. If not, it would be the first time she slept alone in almost two weeks. The first time she slept with him, she had been really nervous. She had wanted to go and lay with him for two nights in a row at that point. The third night she was fed up with letting her fear win out, so she plucked up all her courage and resolve and just went for it. They were all living on borrowed time. And she didn't want to live her (what was mostly likely going to be severely shortened) life being plagued by regrets. If she wanted to do something, she had to do it now. There was a very real possibility that there may not be a later.

She gathered up her pillow and the comforter that she had been using as a sleeping bag of sorts and made her way over to where he was sleeping. Everyone in their group had claimed random areas of the house for themselves. She had been sleeping in the living room with Michonne, Carl, and Judith. He didn't like being cooped up in the house with so many people, but he also didn't want to be too far away from her, so he was sleeping out on the wraparound porch. He had made a little makeshift bed out of some scavenged blankets and throw pillows. She made her way through the house to the front door as quietly as possible, stepping carefully over sleeping bodies and stealthily around tables and chairs. As soon as she opened up the screen door, pillow and blanket in hand, she felt his eyes on her. She could barely make him out, but from what she could see, he looked unsure, almost a little frightened. But he didn't say anything until she put her pillow down right next to his and then laid out her comforter on the ground next to him.

He finally spoke up. Asking her in a whisper edged with a bit of panic, "What're you doing?"

She sat down next to where he lay and shrugged her shoulders, trying to appear much more nonchalant than she was feeling. "Sleeping next to you, what does it look like?"

She lay down, moving around a bit, trying to get comfortable. It was much cooler out here on the porch, but something about being this close to Daryl and being able to hear the crickets much more clearly made her feel like she should have come out here the first night she wanted to.

"Well you shouldn't." He rolled over on his back. He stared up at the exposed wood planks of the ceiling. His voice sounded hollow. Unconvincing.

"I shouldn't?" She wrapped herself up in her blanket, snuggling into the blanket and pulling it up to her chin, hoping that she hadn't totally miscalculated their dynamic.

"Nah."

"Do you not want me here?" She had tried not to let it, but she could hear the way her fear of rejection had tinged her voice, making her sound small and young.

He took a while to respond, then turned back towards her. She could barely make out the blue of his eyes in the darkness and quietly she heard him admit, "Didn't say that."

She smiled at him, freed her hand from her comforter, and grabbed his hand from where it was laying at his side, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Ok then. I'm staying." It took a few nights for him to adjust, but she knew that he liked her there when he would ask her what her plans were every night. You have watch now? You sleeping by Judith tonight? Four nights later, he was laying on his back and she was curled up on her side, using his chest as a pillow, loving the comforting sound of his heartbeat and the feel of his steady breathing.

Since then they had made their way farther north and they were now holed up in another farmhouse. It was getting cold, so she convinced him to sleep inside the house with her. He managed to make it back into their little nest of blankets in the corner of the living room that they had claimed for themselves. She was facing the wall, not asleep yet, she couldn't fall asleep without knowing what he was thinking. But he lay down next to her, and she knew that meant everything.

She looked over her shoulder to where he was laying, he had his back facing towards her. She sighed. He was stubborn, and he didn't know how to do all of this, but she didn't exactly either. But she figured it took a lot of courage for him to just come here and lay by her, she could make the next step for him. So she rolled over and pressed herself into his back. She wiggled her arm that was stuck between them underneath the crook of his neck and she wrapped her other arm around his stomach. As she settled in against his back, she felt his muscles tense up, so she leaned over a bit and placed a kiss on the side of his neck and then another on his shoulder and then another right at the base of his neck, where she could feel the bony knob at start of his spine underneath her lips. She could feel him start to relax, his muscles loosening, as he covered her arm that was around his stomach with his. And when he took her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze, she knew that everything was ok.

She lifted her head back up and placed another kiss on his shoulder, leaving her lips there and smiling against his skin as he squeezed her hand again. She felt him begin to shift and she loosened her arms as he turned around to face her. He brought both his hands up to cradle her face. His calluses scratching against the soft skin of her cheeks. She lived for moments like this. Moments when he would soften in front of her, when he would handle her with this care you would never think he possessed at first glance.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times. She could tell that he wanted to say something, wanted to try to make everything right between them again. But she already felt like it was. So she told him, nodding her head and quietly whispering, "We're okay," as she looked into his eyes.

He nodded once, trying to convince himself more than her. "Ok." It came out gruff. Unfinished, like he wanted to say more, but couldn't.

So she smiled at him and just said it back, "Ok."

He leaned down to kiss her, still cradling her face in his hands. This kiss started out soft and pleading. As if he was still asking her to forgive him. So she kissed him back with everything she had, trying to convince him that they didn't need to talk about anything, this was all she needed. She slid her tongue against his and the kiss soon started devolving into something less controlled, messier. Her thoughts began to run together as she scooted her body closer to him, so that it was flush with his. She slid her hand up his side and grabbed his shoulder, holding onto him for dear life. Digging her fingertips into the hard muscle there. As he began to pull away, she captured his bottom lip between her teeth, giving it a gentle bite. He pulled away completely and rested his forehead against hers, keeping his eyes closed, stopping them before they got too carried away.

They would always fight. They had taken such different paths to get to where they were now, they wouldn't always see eye to eye. But as long as he came back to her at the end of the day and kissed her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world, they would be ok.

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**A/N:** Again, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who reviews, favorites, or follows. You all share a very special place in my heart. I try to respond to every review that I get, but just in case I accidentally skip over someone (and because I can't respond personally to guests) know that I am so happy that you enjoy this story! I know that these little snippets aren't super exciting or action-filled like a lot of the great ff on this website, but I feel like a Bethyl relationship would be really chill, low-key, and quiet when they had alone time. I'm just trying to stay as true to their characters as I can! So again, thanks for reading! Leave some love on the way out if you feel so inclined. Or hit me up on tumblr: thisismymorecolorfulmoniker. I love fangirling with other Bethylers there!


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